"Rick" wrote in message
...
I set up 2 liter bottle of DIY CO2 about 10 days ago, mixed up 2 cups of
sugar, 1/4 tsp of yeast and a pinch of baking soda and filled the bottle
about 3/4 full. I initially had this hooked into a powerhead. It was
dispensing as I could see the puffs of gas coming out of the output. I
recently bought some Rena Micro bubblers to use rather than the power head
and now have the bottle with a fresh mix (last night) hooked into a 4"
bubbler in a 20g planted tank. My Ph in the tank remains at about 7.6. I
can
see bubbles coming out of the bubbler but should the PH not change ?. Is
the
tank not getting enough CO2, one would think in a 20g that one two liter
bottle would be enough, yes, no??


If the pH is not changing, that means there's no extra CO2 being dissolved
from your generator. And it's obvious why. You're using an airstone to
diffuse your CO2 gas. DIY CO2 cannot be diffused successfully because the
pressure needed to run an adequate diffuser must be much higher than the
yeast generator can produce. A powerhead would work much better in your case
because it would act as a reactor. Or you can inject it directly into your
power or canister filter. That's what most people do, I believe. Your CO2
level should increase overnight as much as it will ever increase.
__
Alex

"Rick" wrote in message
...
I set up 2 liter bottle of DIY CO2 about 10 days ago, mixed up 2 cups of
sugar, 1/4 tsp of yeast and a pinch of baking soda and filled the bottle
about 3/4 full. I initially had this hooked into a powerhead. It was
dispensing as I could see the puffs of gas coming out of the output. I
recently bought some Rena Micro bubblers to use rather than the power head
and now have the bottle with a fresh mix (last night) hooked into a 4"
bubbler in a 20g planted tank. My Ph in the tank remains at about 7.6. I
can
see bubbles coming out of the bubbler but should the PH not change ?. Is
the
tank not getting enough CO2, one would think in a 20g that one two liter
bottle would be enough, yes, no??


If the pH is not changing, that means there's no extra CO2 being dissolved
from your generator. And it's obvious why. You're using an airstone to
diffuse your CO2 gas. DIY CO2 cannot be diffused successfully because the
pressure needed to run an adequate diffuser must be much higher than the
yeast generator can produce. A powerhead would work much better in your case
because it would act as a reactor. Or you can inject it directly into your
power or canister filter. That's what most people do, I believe. Your CO2
level should increase overnight as much as it will ever increase.
__
Alex

"Alex R" wrote in message
news:BKz1a.47589$iG3.6416@sccrnsc02...
"Jamie D" wrote in message
news:VX91a.30988$2H6.684@sccrnsc04...

The amount the pH will change depends on the kH of the water in the
tank.
The more dissolved carbonates, the less the pH will change. What is your
kH?

Jamie


That's absolutely NOT true. The amount the pH will drop is independent of
the KH. The KH only determines the starting and ending values of the pH.
But
the difference will be the same, regardless of the KH. If you're starting
with a pH of 7.6, then you should aim for a pH of 6.8-6.9.
__
Alex
pcalex (at) hotpop.com


Oops .. sorry, you're absolutely right. I stand corrected. Brain freeze
perhaps.

Jamie
~

"Alex R" wrote in message
news:BKz1a.47589$iG3.6416@sccrnsc02...
"Jamie D" wrote in message
news:VX91a.30988$2H6.684@sccrnsc04...

The amount the pH will change depends on the kH of the water in the
tank.
The more dissolved carbonates, the less the pH will change. What is your
kH?

Jamie


That's absolutely NOT true. The amount the pH will drop is independent of
the KH. The KH only determines the starting and ending values of the pH.
But
the difference will be the same, regardless of the KH. If you're starting
with a pH of 7.6, then you should aim for a pH of 6.8-6.9.
__
Alex
pcalex (at) hotpop.com


Oops .. sorry, you're absolutely right. I stand corrected. Brain freeze
perhaps.

Jamie
~

I know I'm getting into this late. But, this thread has caught my attention.

Alex R wrote:

If the pH is not changing, that means there's no extra CO2 being dissolved
from your generator.

Not necessarily true. My first tank that I injected DIY CO2 was a little 10
gallon moderately planted tank. This tank never did register any pH drop for
the first few weeks I was adding CO2. BUT.....from the next day and ever
afterwards my plants were pearling like mad as they had never done before. That
would seem to mean that the plants were taking in all of the added CO2 that was
being injected. Enough such that there was never any excess CO2 to cause the pH
to drop.

Judge by the plants response as well as the pH to determine if the CO2 is
getting into the water.


And it's obvious why. You're using an airstone to
diffuse your CO2 gas. DIY CO2 cannot be diffused successfully because the
pressure needed to run an adequate diffuser must be much higher than the
yeast generator can produce.

Different stones perform differently. I've run DIY CO2 into several different
stones and have others on hand that I haven't tried yet. I have yet to find a
stone that has so much resistance that the CO2 couldn't make its way out. Some
stones will put your CO2 hardware to the test as far as being leak-proof,
though. Seems the better stones, read that stones that make very fine bubbles,
need more pressure and a solid leak-proof setup. The wood 'air-stone' is my
favorite at the moment.


A powerhead would work much better in your case
because it would act as a reactor. Or you can inject it directly into your
power or canister filter. That's what most people do, I believe. Your CO2
level should increase overnight as much as it will ever increase.

Personally, I'm going into the canister intake. As you say, it doesn't take
long at all to see what the CO2 level is going to be.


One thing I see all the time about adding CO2 and extra lighting that just makes
me nuts. ......or would that be more nuts?

It seems most people do this bass akwards.

Everyone wants to add extra lights and then get around to adding the CO2 'if I
need it'. Seems to me, there would be way less grief if the CO2 were added
first, THEN add the extra lighting. There would probably be way less
complaining about algae.

My first tank with 1 wpg and too much direct sunlight contained tons of algae
when I started adding the CO2. The algae just went away of its own accord.
I've never had much algae (just a couple of spots on the glass at the filter
outlet) in my second tank with the CO2 and about 1.5 wpg and the plants grow
very well.

--

Scott Lewis

I know I'm getting into this late. But, this thread has caught my attention.

Alex R wrote:

If the pH is not changing, that means there's no extra CO2 being dissolved
from your generator.

Not necessarily true. My first tank that I injected DIY CO2 was a little 10
gallon moderately planted tank. This tank never did register any pH drop for
the first few weeks I was adding CO2. BUT.....from the next day and ever
afterwards my plants were pearling like mad as they had never done before. That
would seem to mean that the plants were taking in all of the added CO2 that was
being injected. Enough such that there was never any excess CO2 to cause the pH
to drop.

Judge by the plants response as well as the pH to determine if the CO2 is
getting into the water.


And it's obvious why. You're using an airstone to
diffuse your CO2 gas. DIY CO2 cannot be diffused successfully because the
pressure needed to run an adequate diffuser must be much higher than the
yeast generator can produce.

Different stones perform differently. I've run DIY CO2 into several different
stones and have others on hand that I haven't tried yet. I have yet to find a
stone that has so much resistance that the CO2 couldn't make its way out. Some
stones will put your CO2 hardware to the test as far as being leak-proof,
though. Seems the better stones, read that stones that make very fine bubbles,
need more pressure and a solid leak-proof setup. The wood 'air-stone' is my
favorite at the moment.


A powerhead would work much better in your case
because it would act as a reactor. Or you can inject it directly into your
power or canister filter. That's what most people do, I believe. Your CO2
level should increase overnight as much as it will ever increase.

Personally, I'm going into the canister intake. As you say, it doesn't take
long at all to see what the CO2 level is going to be.


One thing I see all the time about adding CO2 and extra lighting that just makes
me nuts. ......or would that be more nuts?

It seems most people do this bass akwards.

Everyone wants to add extra lights and then get around to adding the CO2 'if I
need it'. Seems to me, there would be way less grief if the CO2 were added
first, THEN add the extra lighting. There would probably be way less
complaining about algae.

My first tank with 1 wpg and too much direct sunlight contained tons of algae
when I started adding the CO2. The algae just went away of its own accord.
I've never had much algae (just a couple of spots on the glass at the filter
outlet) in my second tank with the CO2 and about 1.5 wpg and the plants grow
very well.

--

Scott Lewis

The Ph will not drop if your kh is high (or less).

Also, don't put too much light with diy co2 because you will probably
become co2 limited. It happened to me and the plants suffered from it
until i added a co2 bottle.

The Ph will not drop if your kh is high (or less).

Also, don't put too much light with diy co2 because you will probably
become co2 limited. It happened to me and the plants suffered from it
until i added a co2 bottle.

Andre Malenfant wrote:

The Ph will not drop if your kh is high (or less).


Andre,

Perhaps we have a misunderstanding (or a missing word?), but the point
above appears to be wrong. Injecting CO2 will drop the pH no matter what
the KH. You can read all about it he

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

Andre Malenfant wrote:

The Ph will not drop if your kh is high (or less).


Andre,

Perhaps we have a misunderstanding (or a missing word?), but the point
above appears to be wrong. Injecting CO2 will drop the pH no matter what
the KH. You can read all about it he

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm